The Tell Tale Heart
Introduction The influence of emerging media on all types of literature has changed the human mind's perception of the classical and current texts. New media, such as the internet, has opened new markets for authors and opportunities for readers to interact in a dynamic community. Walter Ong explains, "The use of a technology can enrich the human psyche, enlarge the human spirit, intensify its interior life."Ong, Walter. "Writing restructures consciousness." Course Readings, ENGL 295 New forms of media are technologies that have reshaped texts by allowing readers to think differently and engage actively with those texts. The internet has been instrumental in promoting the growth of digital literature such as Plato's "Phaedrus", Shelley's "Frankenstein", and Dick's "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep." These are example of texts that are readily available on the web as electronic books, which have changed the reader's previous experience that was limited to the pages of a book. For example, the classical novel "Frankenstein" is presented as a digital copy that incorporates hyperlinks, which engages the reader to learn and actively think about the novel. Each hyperlink presents brief notes about the novel that aids the reader not only in understanding the novel, but also in forming ideas and thoughts as well. In addition, readers are allowed to interact with texts through the tools that internet provides in communities that surround the text itself. Similarily, authors ae given a chance to interact with their readers, shaping the way they write as their readers provide them with instanteous feedback. The community that bridges the relationship between authors and readers has been afforded by the powers of the Internet and its derivative, Web 2.0. In Nicholas Carr's "Is Google Making Us Stupid", he writes" The Web has been a godsend to me as a writer. Research that once required days in the stacks or periodical rooms of libraries can now be done in minutes." Carr, Nicholas. "Is Google Making Us Stupid." Course Readings, ENGL 295. Writers have been able to use the tools of the Internet through different platforms, such as blogs, to interact directly with their audience. A Wikipedia article explains Web 2.0 as, " The ability to create and update content leads to the collaborative work of many rather than just a few web authors." Wikipedia entry on Web 2.0. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_2.0 Using the significantly fast research capabailities of search engines, such as Google, writers can collaborate and gather the information they need to restructure it and present their writing to their readers. The web community such as the one surrounding the "The Hunger Games Triology," is a prime example of a community of readers that are constantly questioning the meaning of the story, recreating alternate endings, and identifying with specific events that occur in the movie. When asked how one would survive the The Hunger Games one fan responds, "I would first of all make myself out to be weak during the training to make the other tributes believe that I am not a threat. I would make no alliances either."The Hunger Games Trilogy Forum. http://tinyurl.com/d48vkgd The fans raise questions about the story that enable them to have an engaging discussion about the purpose of the story and the motives of the characters. The movie adaptation of the original series of Suzanne Collins's "The Hunger Games Triology," initiates both formal and informal discussions where each reader adds their individual perspective. For the final project, I have chosen to focus on the online community surrounding Edgar Allan Poe's "The Tell Tale Heart," which is a short fictional story. In exploring the presence of the web community, one needs to understand the author's intention, explore the readers' intellectual discussion, and gain an appreciation for the visual adaptations of the text. In order to grasp the writing style behind the "The Tell Tale Heart," one will have to walk through the footsteps of [http://knowingpoe.thinkport.org/person/timeline.asp Poe's Life]. Knowing Poe.http://knowingpoe.thinkport.org/default_flash.asp His use of varying sentence structure, emphatic word choice, and punctuation all contribute to his writing style that is highlighted in his works of fiction and poetry. The readers' reaction to Poe's works, such as the "The Tell Tale Heart," are analyzed in the online community forum called [http://poestories.com/discuss.php?article=4411f7fc6a55a Poe Stories]. Poe Stories.http://poestories.com/discuss.php?article=4411f7fc6a55a Each reader shares their favorite work of Poe and they invite discussion about why they chose that particular work. Some readers draw on personal life experiences that have allowed them to connect with the story and its elements. The last category that will be explored is the visual adaptations or forms of remediation of Poe's original work. Those include the short animated film [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4s9V8aQu4c The Tell Tale Heart Animation] The Tell Tale Heart Animation.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4s9V8aQu4c, the adapted [http://knowingpoe.thinkport.org/writer/telltaleheart_play.asp My Tell-Tale Heart] story, and the movie [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qeLrtwniqM4 The Raven]. The Raven. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qeLrtwniqM4 The presence of the community of readers that have maintained to keep Poe's works alive today is a living testament of the strong influence of technology on readers and authors alike. Authorial Intention To understand Poe's fictional works, one must discover the author's reasons and intentions in writing the way he does. This forms the strong basis for a relationship between the readers and the author. The first fan page, Poe's Stories, discusses Poe's life in three different stages, which include his childhood, army experience, writing career, and his mysterious death. The second source, Knowing Poe, is an interactive fan page that focuses on Poe's career as writer and scrutinizes his writing style as it coincides with significant events in his life. Poe's intentions and motives to write about specific topics of horror and gruesome violence will be deciphered by taking a closer look at his life and works. Poe’s unique writing style can be attributed to his desire for traveling, as he never settled in a place he lived for very long. He didn’t abide by any rules as a teenager and always challenged his parental authority. In Poe’s Stories the editor writes, “he started to drink heavily and quickly became in debt. He had to quit school less than a year later.” He mentions Poe’s failure in completing school to suggest his lack of respect for his foster parent John Allan. The editor of this fan page mentions Poe’s failures in the beginning of the biographical account, as opposed to praising Poe’s intriguing works. In Describing Poe’s experience at West Point Academy, he writes, “He didn’t stay long because John Allan refused to send him any money.” Half way through the biography, one begins to learn about Poe's works such as "The Manuscript Found in a Bottle," where Poe plays on his own personal childhood. He writes with ill feelings about his relations with his family and his studies of language overseas, which mirrors young Poe's studies of Latin in England. Poe's career took a turn when his writing style addressed contents of murder and crime, solving cryptograms. His detective story, "The Murders in the Rue Morgue," gained a wide attraction, as readers were encouraged to send cryptograms for him to solve. The editor describes that Poe, "challenged readers to send in cryptograms, which he always solved." His writing style became more apparent as Poe continued to move from one city to another, redefining the genre he wrote in to capture the attention of his audience. Contrary to the editor of Poe’s Stories, the editor of Knowing Poe describes Poe in four strong phrases praising the writer’s life. Some of the phrases he mentions include “a man deeply connected with Baltimore…” and “One of America’s finest writers…” One can see that the editor and the fans that follow this page are interested in the Poe’s works and his brilliance as a writer. Each segment of the fan page focuses on an aspect of Poe’s life. One learns about his personal life, Poe as a detail-oriented writer, and the living legend of Poe’s Museum. The editor describes Poe's writing process as, "will rewrite poems half a dozen times or more - changing a comma here, a word or phrase there - all in an attempt to get just the right feelings and ideas from their mind onto the page." An example of Poe's written poems is "The Lake," which he had written three versions all displaying the writer's refining capabilities of his work over the course of his life time. The three versions of 1827, 1829, and 1845 reveal Poe's obssesive behavior in perfecting his feelings and his intention in conveying a different message until his final version in 1845. Some of the changes that are mentioned occur in sentence structure, grammatical punctuation, and word choice. For example, Poe's 1827 version presents the title of the poem as "THE LAKE." while his 1845 version reads as "THE LAKE-TO---" leaving the readers to wonder about the meaning and how this contributes to the rhythm. This example only provides some insight into Poe's writing as one learns that these authorial changes provide a specific experience at each stage of his life. In addition, Poe's passion for secret writing was evident works such as "The Gold Bug," which was a prime example of a cryptogram. The editor describes Poe's affinity for puzzles as, "Poe was also very interested in secret languages. He prided himself on his ability to create and solve cryptograms, and often wrote about this process." It is evident that Poe was unique in his approach to writing his detective stories, incorporating innovate secret codes such as cryptograms, and readers found this an engaging form of writing. It allowed Poe to connect with his readers giving him the name "the father of the modern American short story." Interpretatitve Disputes The readers' community surrounding Poe's "The Tell Tale Heart" offers varying point of views on the meaning of the novel to each contributor. Each contributor discuss their experience with the text and the feelings they express while reading Poe's words. For some readers, his writing was an inspiration for them to continue reading literature that incorporated such vivid language. One fan, Kalyiel, expresses her experience as, "It is my favorite out of many reasons, out of which the most important is the way it made me feel. It gave me the impression of a hallucinating world, restrained to the obsessive-compulsive outlook of a man who may or may not be mad. The homodiegetical narrator gets the lecturer so deeply implied in the narrative that he/she ends up asking himself/herself what madness is and if generaly accepted conceptions truly apply to each and every one of us, or to the world itself, for that matter. Another element that keeps me true to this story, is the circumstances in which I came to read it. It was the first story by E.A. Poe I ever read, and I read it on the date of his death, having no idea about it, and out of sheer necessity. Yes, I felt the need of reading this particular story on the date of E.A. Poe's death, without knowing what had happened that day, years ago. So there are strange circumstances linking me to it, as well." Kalyiel's experience reveals that readers not only identify with the story but they take away lessons that relate to their lives and the real world. She mentions that the narrator's ability to drive himself to complete madness and the incapability to live with the guilt of killing the old man parallels many situations in the real world. For example, one one lies and continues to lie to keep the original lie true, one becomes anxious and nervous, tremebling in fear if the truth is discovered. Kalyiel is able to connect with story because of the unintentional concidence that she read Poe's story on the date of his death. Unlike Kalyiel's experience, Solhouette_Son's experience with the text was very different as he read it at an earl age. He describes, "Tell-Tale Heart speaks so loudly above all that I have read. The first time I read it I couldn't fathom it. It was hard to understand some things at a young age. But I made sure to re-read it, taking notes in my head. Picturing it perfectly to every detail. Understanding it to my highest knowledge. I can say I loved it even, for the story is re-readable, and always gives you a different feeling every time, unlike any other." One learns that Solhouette_Son was able to create a visual image of the story as he struggled to read the length of text, which was advanced at the time he read it. He explains that contrary to the narrator he didn't carry strong emotions of fear, anger, or experience an emotional rollercoaster of feelings. He says, "But I sense no fear- I feel anger, rage, emotions that can't be handled with a simple mistake of murder. There the ones I have to heal, which the character, placed behind because he was the smart ass and a foolish madman. Once something is over, it can never really be." It is safe to say that Solhouette_Son identifies that guilt cannot be washed away, which is exactly what drove the narrator mad, giving him the unrealistic sounds of the old man's dead heart beating loudly at his ear. Solhouette_Son says, "Once something is over, it can never really be," which one learns as a vital lesson from Poe's story. Another notable contribution is from Kristy_fake, who writes, "By far my favorite Poe story is "Tell-Tale Heart". In this story Poe makes the readers feel as if they are a part of these events of which are happening inside of his story... With every mention of the man's heart beat, you hear the pounding in your ears and feel it inside of your own head. As the story progresses you feel the guilt of the murder along-side the narrator. Every last one of Poe's stories and poems are pure art. He has a unique talent of making his readers feel the emotions being protrayed in his stories. I must admit that I am exponentially jealous of his talents because I, too, wish to be a journalist/writer some day and can't help but envy his natural-born gift." She describes her experience with the text as a moving experience allowing her to witness every action the killer took until he killed the old man. She mentions, "you hear the pounding in your ears," which mimic's the narrator's heavy feelings of anxiety and careful planning. Unlike the other contributors, she expresses Poe's direct influence on her as young aspiring writer. Her response is remarkable in that shows that Poe's "The Tell Tale Heart," is revered as an inspirational story and it's dark language is not simply creepy and convoluted as some might describe. The readers' community provide proof that his short story continues to touch the hearts of readers today that have recently been exposed to his style of writing. They are able to create their own subjective perspective of the story and reconnect it to their own personal lives. Remediation Different forms of remediation are utilized in bringing the short story "The Tell Tale Heart" to life. The forms that will be explored include a short adapted animation, a user interactive story, and an adapted movie "The Ravens." Each form with the exception of the movie brings about certain elements of the story to life, such as the voice of the narrator, the sounds of the beating heart, and the dialogue between the killer and the police. "The Ravens" starring John Cusack highlights Poe's notable works including the "The Tell Tale Heart," revealing some insight into the genius's mind. The reinvention of Poe's work through these forms allows readers to picture not only the story but also it adds meaning. '''Tell Tale Heart Animation''' The short film animation brings the text to life by giving voice to the main speaker, incoporating mysterious music, including sound effects, and animating the pictorial effect. The background music that changes in tone thoroughout the story is perfectly in tune with the narrator's feelings. One hears the dead silence one the narrator freezes in the old man's room. When the narrator becomes nervous hearing the supposed old man's beating heart, one hears the racing dark visual music and the emphatic loud heart beating sounds simultaneously. The scene where the old man is attacked by the killer brings brings it to life, as one feels the violent beatings of the attack. The animated images instilled fear and it keeps one gasping for air. When the narrator is surprise by a knock at the door, the music's intensity is brought down again, as the climax begins to build. The guilt is graphically portrayed by the noises that the entire house makes in unison as the heart beating sounds return. The narrator's guilt is at its peak when he loudly admits to the police that he is the killer and that he had burried him under the the wooden planks. The visual and sound effects bring the end of the adapted movie with the old man burried and the killer is under arrest. The movie is a visual capture of the written text and the use of this media provides different meanings for each reader, as the reader has never encountered the narrator or the characters. It bridges a gap between the feelings of the characters of the story and the reader making the story unbelievably realistic. '''My Tell-Tale Heart''' The interactive story allows the reader to alter the text of Poe's original "The Tell Tale Heart," by incoporating phrases, words, commas, pauses, and emphatic exclamations. These changes allow the readers to partake in the story engaging their thoughts and ideas as they read the text. The interactive tools that the reader has access to include asking a question, highlight a shocking event, commenting on the author's tone, noting an indelible phrase, using a link, and adding your thoughts. This interactive tool helps the reader decipher the meaning of Poe's work by including the reader's response at every step of the story. '''Poe's Last Days, "The Raven"''' The movie "The Raven," is a story about Edgar Allan Poe' allegedly last days. The story creates an innovative theory about what happened to Poe in his days before he died in a hospital in Baltimore, Maryland. Poe pursues a serial killer that is on the hunt to bring Poe's works to life by reenacting those fictional stories. This movie is set in the 19th century where Poe has become a retired writer without a purpose as his stories have become obsolete. Poe's writing becomes not only visually attractive but graphically present as the killer reenacts Poe's gruesomely horror stories one by one. The scenes of bloodshed and the articulated killings, such as the one utilizing the pendulum, bring Poe and officer Fields to their feet as they race to save Poe's beloved Emily. Upon rescuing mily, Poe figures the clue Ivan, the killer, gives him before he is forced to drink the poison. The clue are the wooden planks alluding to the "The Tell Tale Heart," in which the old man is burried underneath by the narrator. The movie becomes instrumental in revealing Poe's inspiration for his horror fictional stories by executing them providing real life consequences. Even though the "The Tell Tale Heart," is not the focus of the movie, it is final touch that saves Emily. It gives readers a new alternate ending, in a sense, to "The Tell Tale Heart," where Poe is a hero that saves his love, but then ultimately dies. Links and References [http://knowingpoe.thinkport.org/default_flash.asp Knowing Poe ] [http://www.poestories.com/ Poe Stories] [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4s9V8aQu4c Short Animation of The Tell Tale Heart] [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qeLrtwniqM4 John Cusack's "The Ravens"] References